Zero Waste? Who Are We Kidding?

28 October 2008

Aiming for zero waste is quite a feat to undertake considering the current trends in this country. It seems to be a step in the right direction to recycle, but then again, not having so much "disposable" stuff to recycle in the first place seem to be more of a nipping it in the bud solution – i.e., the concept of “zero waste” – a more comprehensive approach to dealing with our inputs and outputs so to speak. According to the Grassroots Recycling Network , “zero waste is a design principle for the 21st Century that seeks to redesign the way resources and materials flow through society. Zero Waste requires eliminating subsidies for raw material extraction and waste disposal, and holding producers responsible for their products and packaging 'from cradle to cradle.' The goal is to promote clean production, prevent pollution, and create communities in which all products are designed to be cycled safely back into the economy or environment.” (http://www.grrn.org/zerowaste/)

Obviously not everybody is excited about bringing about some form of to-go container, utensil, and mug or cup or bottle of some sort for beverage about with them on a daily basis. And to-go containers and packaging for various products (especially food) abound in this country – a concerted effort on the part of the few is not likely going to make all that much of a difference in the face of the many who are continuing to do business as usual. Unless there was some way to spread the word about it – by using what these people are doing as educational opportunities, and even better, going a step further to argue for the economic benefits of such practices - well we may be on to something here.

On a related note, considering a new local, green economy, people are all wondering, hey where are the green jobs? We want green jobs, where the heck are they? Well, they're not here yet - they need to be created. Because the reality is that there are very few jobs in this country that could really be considered "green" because people are not interested in making them - they are too busy making money off of the waste we create! If we had more local recycling facilities for all sorts of materials in every city, just imagine all the green jobs that would create. Our current system of single stream collection is not only limited to repurposing a small percentage of the waste that the average American produces each week, but it also reduces the quality of the material that is collected for recycling (it's hard to recycle newspaper when it's full of broken glass). And even if you DO require separation of materials from the get go, plenty of people still just throw it all together in one bin if they do any recycling at all.

Which brings me back to the whole psychological aspect of recycling, wasting, consuming and simply not giving a darn. It seems at times like you're fighting a losing battle when more than half of the people in the country have absolutely no interest in taking the time to recycle, let alone taking more effective steps towards reducing the waste they create in the first place. Knowing about what we're up against and how to approach it seems like a good idea: The Psychology of Environmental Problems by Deborah DuNann Winter and Susan M. Koger is an awesome introduction to some of these underlying issues….

So at this point, the obvious things we can do, such as recycle and Glossary Link compost food scraps, are a small part of the bigger picture. Which is why I have dedicated myself to furthering education on the subject of waste, where it comes from, and how we might be able to collectively avoid creating it in the first place, by first simply capturing and examining the waste we do create that cannot be composted – recyclables and non recyclables included. Let’s take a look at it shall we? What does it mainly consist of? Let’s start looking at it and asking questions, such as: is it necessary? How can we avoid creating it in the first place? Is there infrastructure that we need to develop to avoid this waste (such as a bottle washing plant for example).

There are two fronts here I’m looking at: the public/community front, and the home front.

The home front: For those of ya'll who don't know, I have not put anything out on the curb since last February. Not even recyclables. You can check out the progression of this decision documented online through my blog, “LifeInsideSaidTicTac,” which has unfortunately atrophied due to my lack of ready and willing clones.

So I've been learning a lot about how to cut back on the waste I create. And thinking hard about ways to use the waste that I have accumulated (mostly all plastic and Styrofoam packaging). Paper gets shredded and mixed with the compost. Floor sweepings (minus plastic debris) goes in the compost as well.

I was thinking when February rolls around again, I am going to set up everything I've collected over the past year and take pictures of it all, then hold a competition for artists to come up with interesting ways to use what I've collected. Then hold some talks about what the waste comes from, and what some possible solutions might be to cut back. Packaging and to-go containers are the main problems.

One idea I have come up with is to shred all the plastic waste I've amassed (all washed) and stuff pillows with it - like a see-through art pillow stuffed with random bits of shredded styrofoam and plastic bits. It's visible, it's funky and artsy. It makes a statement: This is your trash. If you're not prepared to sleep with it, then maybe you should think about how to avoid creating it!

The public/community front: The Glossary Link Alchemical Nursery Project has organized two zero waste events to date. The first was an earth day event at the Lipe Art Park over on Fayette Street, where we built three compost bins to handle the food scraps and paper plates and napkins from the event. More recently, we just finished up a zero waste initiative for a city-wide event, the 40 Below Summit on October 18, from which we captured one large bag of recyclables and random non-compostable bits of whathaveyou that we will document with photographs, wash, and stuff our pillows with....

And about two full bags of Glossary Link organic waste, which has been composted. Not too shabby.

And what about landfill material? None.

Be on the lookout for pictures – they should be up on the site soon(ish).